High School Football Preview

September 28, 2007

Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles vs. Brookings Bobcats What and Where: Aberdeen Central versus Brookings in an Eastern South Dakota Conference game at Swisher Field in Aberdeen. When: 7 tonight. Records: The two teams have identical 1-4 overall records and 1-3 in the ESD. Both teams beat Huron for their lone win. Last Week: Watertown scored four consecutive touchdowns in the second and third quarters to pull away for a 48-20 win over Central. Both teams combined to score 35 points in the second quarter. Mike Abu-Sirriya, Thomas Fust and Shane Cunningham scored touchdowns for the Golden Eagles. Jared Hannigan completed 14 of 23 pass attempts for 296 yards and Fust caught six passes for 191 yards. Brookings picked up its first win of the season by a score of 21-0 over Huron. Brookings led 7-0 at halftime on a one-yard run by quarterback Brayden Carlson. The Bobcats defense stopped Huron from scoring three times in the red zone. Last Year: Brookings held on for a 12-7 win. Central led 7-6 in the third quarter but the Bobcats scored the winning touchdown with five minutes left on the clock. It was a game of might-have-beens. Brookings had two touchdowns called back because of penalties, a partially blocked punt, a missed field goal, a fumble on Central's two-yard line, and three turnovers in the second half. The Golden Eagles were stopped once on fourth down, turned the ball over to Brookings after a high snap on a punt, and committed four turnovers. Coaches: Mike Flakus, a Colome native and Northern State graduate, is in his 10th year at Aberdeen Central where he has a 55-51 record. The veteran Gary Maffett is in his 26th season of coaching. Central's Offense: The Golden Eagles have concentrated on fine-tuning the plays that they have. “We've really tried to execute,” Flakus said. “We went back to more technique stuff. On Monday and Tuesday (in practice) we hit quite a bit. I'm happy with the way practices are going. The kids came back after a couple of tough losses and they were ready to go. Some times in the middle of the season, if you lose a couple of games, it's easy for the kids to be down, but that didn't happen at all. It's fun to go out there every day.” Central's Defense: “Last week I thought we played a lot better. The offense put the defense in terrible spots. Turnovers were a deciding factor. We gave up a couple of big plays but other than that we've improved. We just need to play the same style of defense as we did last week and not give up turnovers. I look for our defense to play a good game.” Brookings' Offense: The Bobcats would like to be able to run the ball. “At the beginning of the year that was part of our focus and goal - to establish the running game,” Maffett said. “We like to play action pass off that.” Brookings' Defense: The Bobcats put themselves in some tough positions with field position last week, but the defense managed to keep Huron out of the end zone. “We gave them the red zone. We shot ourselves in the foot. We fumbled on the first play of the game. We had a little bend but not break attitude. Coach Flakus agrees with me that Huron is a much improved team especially on offense. They have a good running game. They're going to run the ball on teams,” said Maffett. Flakus on the Bobcats: “They haven't changed much the last couple of years,” he said. “They play really good defense. I don't know if they have the speed like in the past. They play good defense. They've lost a couple of close games, the same as us. They've always thrown the ball well.” Maffett on the Golden Eagles: “I've seen Aberdeen on tape. I see their quarterback needs to be contained. They like to throw it out of a lot of multiple sets. We're not big like Brandon Valley or Watertown. Against Aberdeen we match up pretty good. We have big kids in some spots. We tried to put in a little quicker unit on defense,” he said. Central's Keys to the Game: “Don't turn the ball over,” Flakus said. “Field position is going to be very important. Our kickoff team has not been doing a good job. We worked on that and revamped it. Field position might be more of a factor than in a couple of the last few games. We're getting better and need to continue to do that this week.” Brookings' Keys to the Game: “I heard the wind is going to blow,” said Maffett. “Coaches always look at the weather. Field position, of course, will be important and turnovers. We have failed to play a good first half and that's our goal. I don't think we've scored in the first quarter. That's a goal and a key for us to get something started.” Game Notes: The biggest Brookings football player is starting left tackle Matt Field (6-feet-4, 290 pounds )... Central's biggest player is also the starting left tackle, Nathan Little (6-2, 270) ... on offense the Bobcats start seven seniors and four juniors and on defense start 10 seniors. Radio Broadcast: The football game will be broadcast on KGIM-AM (1420). Starting Lineups Brookings Pos. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. TE Austin MouwÉ6-3 175 Sr. LT Matt FieldÉ6-4 290 Jr. LG Alex ParkerÉ6-4 240 Jr. OC Drew RedmondÉ6-4 230 Sr. RG Spencer LaufmanÉ6-3 200 Sr. RT Josh SchultzÉ6-3 225 Sr. WR Brett RasmussenÉ6-0 170 Jr. SE Dan SchmidtÉ6-4 198 Sr. FB Zach RykhusÉ6-4 183 Sr. RB Mason WinterboerÉ5-11 185 Sr. QB Brayden CarlsonÉ6-4 175 Jr. Pos. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE Dale BrovoldÉ6-3 186 Sr. NG Morgan VrchotaÉ5-9 215 Sr. DE Josh SchultzÉ6-3 225 Sr. LB Vince NeedhamÉ6-0 202 Sr. LB Cody BullingtonÉ5-10 198 Jr. LB Jacob SchneiderÉ6-0 228 Sr. LB Zach RykhusÉ6-4 175 Sr. CB Willy OlsonÉ5-10 180 Sr. FS Justin KirchhevelÉ5-10 185 Sr. SS Dan SchmidtÉ6-4 195 Sr. CB Mason SvennesÉ5-10 170 Sr. Aberdeen Central TE Kayden SvarstadÉ5-7 185 Sr. LT Nathan LittleÉ6-2 270 Jr. LG Landon SuttonÉ6-0 220 Jr. OR Levi FrokeÉ5-8 180 Sr. OR Eric PaulsonÉ6-2 255 Sr. OC Zach NeubertÉ6-3 205 Jr. RG Baker HaarÉ6-0 215 Jr. RT Jordan ErnstÉ6-3 200 Sr. WR Thomas FustÉ5-10 160 Sr. WR Shane CunninghamÉ6-3 170 Sr. QB Jared HanniganÉ6-2 170 So. RB Mike Abu-SirriyaÉ6-0 180 Sr. FB Ethan RemilyÉ6-3 200 Sr. Pos. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE Jordan ErnstÉ6-3 200 Sr. NG Eric PaulsonÉ6-2 255 Sr. DT Baker HaarÉ6-0 215 Jr. DE Tyler SeversonÉ6-3 200 Jr. LB Jeff BeckÉ5-11 178 Sr. OR John GellhausÉ5-10 160 Jr. LB Josh MarkleyÉ6-1 165 Jr. LB Ethan RemilyÉ6-3 200 Sr. SS Jordan PuntÉ5-10 170 Sr. CB Ryan SwensonÉ5-10 165 Jr. CB Thomas FustÉ5-10 160 Sr. FS Shane CunninghamÉ6-3 170 Sr.